We collected our hire car on Wednesday and gave a lift to our new anchored neighbours in the bay to customs etc to check in. They came with us that day on our tour of exploration of the island which was good fun. We first went to Mt Lulu ( 145m) for a general look over the island and lagoon then a drive right round. The most spectacular spot was a circular lake deep inside an extinct volcanic cone called Lake Lalolalo. The deep still dark waters were surrounded by cliffs about 100metres high topped with thick tropical jungle. White tropic birds soared and turned below us highlighted against the dark waters.
Mango trees grow luxuriantly here and often the mangoes lie rotting on the ground- we have enjoyed a few good ones.
The island is fairly sparsely populated with small villages here and there around the coast. There are quite a few large 15 m sailing outriggers built from plywood and smaller ones for paddling within the lagoon.
The next day Denise and I explored some of the roads we had missed the previous day - it is strange mixture here of Polynesian and French culture.
Friday morning the BAD NEWS - we rowed in to take the hire car back when unfortunately Denise slipped on the wet algae covered concrete boat ramp and banged and twisted her right wrist severely, and it was very soon quite swollen and extremely painful.
There is a small hospital in Mata-utu the main town so we went to see what could be done. The French staff were charming and most helpful and an excellent quality xray was soon done and developed. The GOOD NEWS was that there was no fracture and they applied a half cast and dressing which they recommended stay on for two weeks and plied her with some pain killers. Today it is less sore but she will have to take things easy when we are sailing.
We plan to leave here within the next 48 hours if the weather is ok bound for Fiji.
----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com
Yuk!!!!!Hopefully Denise will mend quickly. Remember all too well what that feels like, when I had my bike accident in Aitutaki...no fun! Be kind to yourself and have a safe trip to Fiji.
ReplyDelete